FOR A CAUSE: New Balance, working with designer Jacqueline Quinn and N9 Productions, has documented how to create a dress out of a sneaker. The five-part video film series, which supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month, shows Quinn deconstructing the 860v2 running shoe, explaining how she uses the same materials of the inner sole, the tongue, laces and other components to design the one-of-the-kind dress, and fitting it on Miss USA Olivia Culpo.
Quinn, who has also designed a dress out of Viviscal hair-thickener pills, describes her New Balance dress as exhibiting “a retro Barbarella look and the same sort of strength and empowerment for women that the 860v2 shoe represents.”
A percent of the shoe sales get donated to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure to fight breast cancer. The series will be shown in its entirety on the New Balance Web site beginning Friday after Miss USA makes her debut in the dress.
“When you see Miss USA getting fitted, you can sense how the material breathes and how it stretches, which is just what the shoe is all about. That’s great branding for a great cause,” said N9 creative director Mark Ledzian, who teamed with filmmaker Tamino Castro on the project.